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Friday, September 25, 2015

First Look: 2016 Hot Wheels Custom '72 Chevy LUV and '67 Chevy C10...

Trucks man...

That is 2016 Batch A in a nutshell. There are some great models in the batch, including a Batmobile for fans of the Batperson, but the most interesting new model in Batch A is a truck, and so is the best looking model.

The interesting new model? The Chevy LUV of course. Interesting because it kills two birds with one stone, those two birds being JDM and Chevy fans. JDM fans get to claim the model because the LUV is really just a rebadged Isuzu Faster. Chevy fans claim it because, well, it is obviously a Chevy. Chevrolet sold it in the States as the LUV (Light Utility Vehicle) as a competitor to the small Datsun and Toyota trucks, until they developed their own light truck, the S-10.

So my guess is when it came time to decide whether to do the truck or not, the obvious choice was Chevy. My guess is it would take a lot for Hot Wheels to do a miniature version any Isuzu, especially with there was an option to make it a Chevy. That was definitely the right choice. But JDM fans can be happy to know they are getting some representation as well, just like they did at last weekend's JCCS:

As we pointed out before, this heavily customized version of the LUV is debuting with deco clearly paying tribute to the Mighty Mike version, which came in yellow (seen below), and red (which may hint at a recolor):

It makes for a great debut design, that while not stock, definitely hints at the original. And since this is a more rodded out version of the LUV, one other detail about this specific example makes me happy.

From what we know, the love is supposed to have large rear wheels, and up until this shipment arrived that is what appeared:

So far we don't know if this is a running change or a large scale error. Whatever it is, the small rear wheels looks SO MUCH better. It keeps the stance more correct, even on this custom version. We will have to see what eventually appears in stores. I am just happy to have at least this one.

Now onto that "best-looking" model we were talking about. It is the other Chevy pickup in the batch, the '67 C10. Ryu Asada's creation debuted beautifully in red a couple of years ago, and then had a bit of a rough run in flames last year. Thankfully it is back with a vengeance in 2016, looking incredibly sharp in black, gold, and tan. And it makes a perfect compliment to the LUV:

In the coming days I will show the other notables of Batch A, but these two are the most significant. Great variety Hot Wheels. Kudos...